Monday, 27 October 2014

Ten rules of Passage Narration

10 Rules of Passage
Narration

Passage Narrationmeans a short passage of conversation
between two persons in the form of direct speeches. There are some differentrules of changing passage narrationfromdirect
speechestoindirect speeches. This is 3rd
lesson on Narration and its Changing Theory in which I will discuss over10 rules of changing speechesin a passage.

In our academic exams such asJ.S.C, S.S.C, and H.S.C, we are
to change a passage narration. So, undoubtedly, we have to give

importance on this lesson in order to do
better in those exams. I will show you the complete 10 rules andtechniques of changing passage narrationin the easiest way here.

But before that, you must have the basic
knowledge on Narration that I have discussed before on my previous lessons on
narration. If you have not read those lessons, you should go back there and
read those first. On the lessonNarration and its Changing Theory-1,
I have discussed on the basic parts of narration and changing structures.
Likewise, on the lessonNarration and its Changing Theory-2,
I have discussed on the variations of changing patterns following 5 kinds of
sentences.

So, now I would like to start my discussion on passage narration. For this, at
first I want to give an exampleof passage narration here.

“You have lost my new bag today. Why have you
gone outside leaving it then?”, asked the Master. “By Allah, I went outside for
drinking a glass of water sir”, said the Servant. “you could go after my
coming. You could wait for someone else. Now pay for the bag.” “Yes, I am
guilty for my carelessness but now I have no money”, cried the servant.

It is a sample of thequestion patternsof passage narration. It is a little different
form the sentence narration. Here, you have to understand thespeeches and its speakerindividually. Don’t worry, you can do it
easily through regular practice. Because, the forms ofpersons, tenses, adverbials,andsentence structuresare similar to the methods of sentence narration. You will just
notice some different aspects in passage narrations.

Now, I will explain10 rules step by stepof changing passage narration with examples
and explanation.

10 Rules of Changing Passage NarrationRule-01:
Read the passage narration from first to last and try to understand the
speakers and their speeches. You have to differentiate each speech and its
speaker. You may not get the name of speaker in each speech. But observing the
context of speeches, you have to mark that.

Example and Explanation:

“You have lost my new bag today. Why have you
gone outside leaving it then?”, asked the Master. “I went outside for drinking
a glass of water sir”, said the Servant. “But you could go after my coming. Now
pay for the bag.” “Yes, I am guilty for my carelessness but now I have no
money”, replied the servant.

In this passage, notice the sentences “But you could go after my coming. Now
pay for the bag.” And you will get that there is no speaker mentioned after the
speeches. But because of context, we get that it is the speeches of the master.

Rule-02:
You have to write the name of speaker and listener of each speech before the
speech during changing. In question, you may not get the name with each
sentence and you may get the name of speaker at first or last. But during the
changing into indirect, you have to put the name of speaker and listener at
first.

Example and Explanation:

Direct:“I have called you today. Were you so much busy?”, he said. “I
was busy with some official works”, said I.

Indirect:He said to me that he
had called me that day. He asked me if I was so much busy. I replied that I had
been busy with some official works.

So, you have seen that I have mentioned the name of speaker and listener before
each sentence and though it is not mentioned before each speech in direct
passage. Yes, it is your duty to put the part reporting verb before each speech
in the passage.

Rule-03:
You will mention the name of both speaker and listener for the first time.
Next, you have to address them by pronoun word such as: “he, she, and they,”.
If the pronoun of the two persons become same, you will mark the pronoun words
with the first alphabet in a bracket after it such as: “He (M)/ He (S)”. but if
there is the name mentioned after any speech, you will also mention the name
again.

Example and Explanation:

Direct:“You have lost my new bag today. Why have you
gone outside leaving it then?”, asked the Master. “I went outside for drinking
a glass of water sir”, said the Servant.

Indirect:The master told the
servant that he(S) had lost his (M) new bag that day. He (M) asked him (S) why
he(S) had gone outside leaving it then. The Servant respectfully replied that
he(S) had gone outside for drinking a glass of water.

So, you have seen that I have mentioned the name of speaker and listener for
the first time. Then, I have mentioned them with pronoun words and marker: He
(M) or He(S). Here, I have used the word ‘respectfully’ for the word ‘sir’.

Rule-04:
In passage, if there are two or more sentences of the same speaker together,
you have to use the expression: “said to/told” for the first speech. But for
the second speech, you will use the expression: “again said/told/asked, added,
and further said/told/asked”. But remember, if the sentences are of similar
categories, you will do it. If one sentence is assertive and another one is
interrogative or imperative, you need not apply this method.

Example and Explanation:

Direct:“You have selected the boy for the job. You will take his
responsibility from now”, said the Officer.

Indirect:The officer said to me
that I had selected the boy for the job. He again said that I would take his
responsibility from then.

Here, the speaker ‘the officer’ has spoken for two times and the sentence
category of these two sentences is assertive. So, I have used the expression
‘again said’ before the second speech.

Rule-05:
There are some certain words or phrases in direct speeches which will be
changed in indirect speeches. Now, I will show you a chart of those phrases.
Here it is:

Forms in Direct Speech

Forms in Indirect Speech

Sir

Respectfully said/asked…….

Yes

Replied in the affirmative that……

No

Replied in the negative that……

Thanks

Subject+ thanked+ object

Good
morning/evening/night

Subject+ wished+ object+ good morning/evening/night

Good bye

Subject+ bade+ object+ good bye

By
Allah/God/Jove/my life..

Swearing by by Allah/God/Jove/my life..

Ok

Subject+ agreed that……

Hello/hi

Subject+ greeted that…

Replied/asked/cried/uttered/muttered

No change

Examples:Direct:The boy said, “Sir,
I will attend the classes regularly.”Indirect:The boyrespectfully saidthat he would attend the classes regularly.

Direct:You said, “Yes,
it is my lost bag.”Indirect:You saidin the affirmative thatit was your lost bag.

Direct:He said to me, “No,
I cannot help you now.”Indirect:He said to mein the negative thathe could not help me then.

Direct:You said to me, “Thanks,
you have done the job.”Indirect:Youthanked meand said that I had done the job.

Direct:He said to you, “Good
morning, how are you?”Indirect:Hewished you good morningand asked how you were.

Direct:He said to me, “Good
bye, meet me tomorrow”Indirect:He
bade me good byeand told to meet him
the next day.

Direct:She said to me, “By
Allah, I will meet you.”Indirect:Swearing
by Allahhe said to me that he
would meet me.

Direct:Rajib said to me, “Ok,
I am going there now.”Indirect:Rajibagreed with meand said that he was going there then.

Direct:He said to her, “Hello,
how are you?”Indirect:He
greeted herand asked how she was.

Direct:Heutteredsilently, “No one is here now.”Indirect:Heutteredsilently that no one was there then.

Rule-06:

If there is any
addressing word in a sentence such as

“friend/father/brother/sister/mother/king/comrades/viewers”, you will use a different structure during
changing into indirect. Here is the structure:

Addressing+ object+
as+ friend+ subject+ verb……………….

Addressing+ object+ as+ friend+ subject+ verb……………….

Example:Direct:He said to me, “Friend, give me
this book for reading.”Indirect:Addressing me as friendhe told me to give him that book for reading.

Rule-07:

If there is any phrase out ofinverted commas (“ ”), you will not change it. You will rewrite the
same form of phrase at the beginning of the reporting verb of indirect speech.

See the example:

Direct:He said to memoving beside the Indian boarder, “I am visiting the historical place.”Indirect:Moving beside the Indian boarder, He said to me that he was visiting the
historical place.

Rule-08:

If there is a name of a person in the speech
and inverted commas (“ ”), you will use that name in reporting verb during
changing the speech.

Example:Direct:He said, “Where are you goingRobin?”Indirect:He askedRobinwhere he was going.

Rule-09:

If the sentence in inverted commas (“ ”), is
in assertive but with an interrogation sign (?) at last, you will use the
expression: “Being surprised” at the beginning of indirect speech. Besides, you
have to transform the direct speech into indirect following the structure of
interrogative sentence.

Example:Direct:He said to me,“You know where he lives now?”Indirect:Being surprised, he asked me if I knew where he lived then.

Rule-10:
Sometimes, we do not get any object of reporting verb in direct speech. In that
case, we can use the expression:“the person spoken to…”or“me”as the object of
reporting verb in indirect speech.

Example:Direct:He said, “I will tell you the incident tomorrow.”Indirect:He saidto the person spoken tothat he would tell him the incident the next
day.Or,Indirect:He saidto methat he would tell him the incident the next
day.

Now see theexample
of a passage narrationand its transformation
from direct to indirect.

Direct:“You have lost my new bag today. Why have you
gone outside leaving it then?”, asked the Master. “By Allah, I went outside for
drinking a glass of water sir”, said the Servant. “you could go after my
coming. You could wait for someone else. Now pay for the bag.” “Yes, I am guilty
for my carelessness but now I have no money”, cried the servant.

Indirect:The Master said to the
Servant that he(S) had lost his(M) new bag that day. He(M) asked him(S) why
he(S) had gone outside leaving it then. Swearing by Allah, the servant
respectfully replied that he(S) had gone outside for drinking a glass of water.
He(M) said to him(S) that he(S) could go after his(M) coming. He(M) again said
that he(S) could wait for someone else. He(M) ordered him(S) to pay for the bag
then. The servant cried and said in the affirmative that he(S) was guilty for
his(S) carelessness but then he(S) had no money.

Explanation:
Here, the first two sentences “You have lost my new bag today. Why have you
gone outside leaving it then?” are spoken by the speaker ‘The Master’. So,
before the both sentences, I have mentioned the name of speaker ‘master’ and
listener ‘servant’ in reporting verb. The 1st sentence is an assertive
sentence. So, I have used the verb ‘told’. But the 2nd sentence is
interrogative. So, I have used the verb ‘asked’. After that, I have used the
phrases ‘Swearing by Allah’ for the part ‘By Allah’ and ‘respectfully’ for the
word ‘sir’.

Besides, I have used
the verb ‘replied’ here because the servant is answering the question of the
master. Then, there are 3 sentences without mentioning the name of speaker
before or after. But from the conversation and its context, we can assume that
these speeches are spoken by the master. Among these 3 sentences, the first 2
sentences are in assertive but the last one is in imperative. So, I have used
the verb ‘again said’ in second speech. Finally, there is a sentence-“Yes, I am
guilty for my carelessness but now I have no money” told by the servant. As
there is the name of speaker mentioned, I have used the name also. The word
‘cried’ is unchanged. The expression ‘said in the affirmative’ is used for the
word ‘yes’.

You have noticed that
throughout the whole passage, I have used the pronoun form ‘he’ for the subject
and I have put the marker (M) or (S) after the pronoun. The other elements of
reported speeches such as persons, tenses of verbs, and adverbials have been
changed according to the general rules following the structure of sentence
categories such as assertive, interrogative, and imperative. You have to
remember and notice all the things I have explained here.There is nothing more
to discuss on thechanging strategiesof passage narration. You can successfully
change any passage narration in your exams following these10 rulesproperly. So, study these rules and prepare
your lesson ofPassage Narration.

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